RECONSTRUCTION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 72, 19 December 1918, Page 6

RECONSTRUCTION

THE TASK AHEAD

CAPITAL AND LABOUR

"The great world war has drawn to a ? elotJß and from now on all (he effort !' of Governments and individuals should V be concentrated with the same energy ,: and determination as has been shown in 1 the prosecution of the war upon the l great problems of the reconstruction and r improvement of social conditions and industrial organisation," said the president of 'the New Zealand Employers' Federation (Mr. T. Shailer Westonj, at the annual meeting yesterday. "In.the less civilised nations this is bound to give rise to much unrest and confusion. The art of self-government cannot bo learned in a day. The various peoples „ who by the Allied victory will be freed a from autocratic rule are bound to ex- ], perience great difficulty in hitting upon c the exact form of democratic govern- ~ inent suited to the peculiar idiosyncrn- | sies of each. The Arabs, Armenians, p Hungarians, Turks, Slave, Germans, A us- q trians, and Russians, will have to estalv „ lish a. form of which will q ensure to each individual citizen secur- . ity of life and property and freedom. c Internal disorder more or less serious ~ must be expected. The popular move- (■ mente inaugurated by the taking of the s Bnstile continupd for years throughout s Europe after the Battle of Woterlno. ? The fall of the- French Empire in 1871 { was followed by the Red Commune, and „ the Tsar's abdication in 1916 by Bolshevism. It would be a poor return r for- the wealth of treasure and lives t spent by the Allied nations in the preservation of the principles of freedom «nd justice for the world if anarchism is to break out in the countries relieved from oppression, and extremists take control of tho Government; of the con- . queri/lg nations. "In the turmoils that may arise it will be well for all New Ze'alnnders who have any love for their country and pride in 'its future to realise thoroughly the fact that no other country in the world possesses the full political rights or the easy industrial conditions existing here. All members of the New Zealand Expeditionary forces who can observe and think must inevitably bear testimony to this on their return. Their weight should be thrown on the side, of stability and disciplined control —their war experiences will have taught them the advantages of a firm command and prompt and willing obedience to its authority. In the older countries, even in England, there are undoubtedly social anomalies and injustices to be rectified. New Zealanders visiting England have always felt the hideous contrast exhibited tliere between the fabulously rich and the very poor. Although, happily, similar extreme conditions do not exist here, the remedies suggested by the draft report submitted to the Labour Party by its executive at the Nottingham Conferance this year are of interest, and well worthy of careful study. The report is an' able one, appealing with great shrewdness to the prejudices and selfinterest not only of its present numbers, bat also to those outsidft the party whose suoport it hopes to. win. "After setting out certain immediate aims in practical politics that am m- . ready enjoyed in New Zealand, such »<r the ' nationalisation of railways, State control of electric power, State mines, female suffrage, and a minimum woge, the report declares against a gradual amelioration ' and improvement of the present structure of society ae being mere patchwork, and urges that for the present principle of individual self-inter-est, ■communistic interests should be substituted as the basic principle setting in force and controlling individual effort. In future the predominating inducement to a man to work and save, to invent and improve, must be the good of his fellows. '~,,, ■"The first criticism to bo made is that from the earliest poriod of village communities the main motive producing the best individual effort has been love ot family and its security and advancement. The family is the unit of all societies— its interests predominate even more with women than with men. The woman is always the king-pin binding together the home. Such a motive forces inrn and women unconsciously and automatically to unceasing exertion. Abolish private ownership and private reward, and this great, ever-acting incentive which produces the virtues of industry, thrift, temperance, and honesty, in the main goes. f'The social change sugeested requires the creation of « man with new feelines and different desires. Man is naturally law-deprive him of the fruits of his individual effort and you will take <\way practically bis whole incentive to effort. The desire for personal possession appears instinctively in the child—to piny with oth»'- children's toys is not sufficient. He must have his very own. Human nature shows itself in the child, and remains still present in the man, tl'ouijh ovHaid and hidden by the artificial conditions of life. Is it possible, then, within the epaee of a Few years, to completely rebuild man on a new design? —if not, flip communistic system must inevitably fail. >. "The second criticism to be made' is that there Is no provision in this labour si-heme for tb» control of the idle mm the vicioii?. Every man ! s to have h'» filmi-e of the country's production. Tn all communities them are men who .linvo failed through want of •norgy. vice, drink or dishonesty. Without punishment there i= no preventive for these offences apiinst the. commonweal, nnd the greatest deterrent is 'undoubtedly <>xpref. e "d in th» maxim 'As. von sow. <-> shall ye reap . *» a ppiiernl mle in life a mnn I">= *•" blame himself if be foils t<vsn«ceed. Search rtpp.n enough, examine all the enendnrft circumstancea. and it will <rp»cnOlv be fnund thorp w« a mason whip.h fh" m«'i himself miuht bv determination i"id «nlfcontrol of industry. At present the man minimi^d. "A third critinsm i= that no m-i-ctic nrnnsion is made, for Hie di?cin l; "P ji"< control of iiw'n=t-v. At "resent the m»n controls inline v -i, n hns pWor j''" means tn pny if hp foils, or yi<(<<io nl-'i-ifv has ti-nti'tlic confidence (if the* ,, who CPU provi'lo such menT"; to pny. Tn t»» o"p. en'* thi d.-ipwr of personal loss.in t!i" other case tho dapger of fnrfpitw» «'ch confiiV"pp. ensures a p"iner sense „; r «s«nn«il>ili f v. nni> thp "H'wHon nf thp full ranncitv "ft.V imlivi' 1 ""! to «■- luiw success. The Lnlwur Partv Piif"pots 'democratic control. . In Hie nnpt atUiTints to PstnMisli comui'i<iiitir< pintinos and to run democriti" b""'; , esw in which pvtv p.Pinloye" hud i ■•■vc '•• the innnn"?men*- 'invi* split iitx"" the rncl: of The preat wnr l> ns nlmve nil tnuglit thp necp?.=ity rif =i'ji<;l'>. "'"'"itroHfil niitW'ty n"-l ab?"'"tp rli"inline in human affairs. Nnhirally ,il].)»P'i •"'" not hnrn equiil. T'>iir -physi'-ni. n»»>fil, nrd mornl Dowors nil vary. Buler- 5 of '<\- dustry there must be. Tim T>l"Uir.lenders dpsire tooontrnl iniliictviec without fhnmsplvps supplvinrr the necpsFary onpiffll. which would pn«iirp some nif'<eure of Tcsponsibilityi on-their pi>rt.. "After all, what is |l>e use of '■dilution if we do not. apply the lcnowlodge nbtainoil f o S"vp us frn>n buying th" f 1 """ V-nowleihe by painful cxperipnci>? The i-psnilt nf nttpinpt-i the sam" as {]ww now ndvnnced hnvo aUvnvs snlit in the on. tlif nuestion of discipline and control; they will surely d<> so '><rai". What adequate measure of authority can any lender of iiulnstrv hnv" wlion he knows his tenure nf office, depends upon the maintenance of his popularity among the men ? "There is no doubt individual and family interests may clash in some instances with public internet. These can and inusl be controlled. Trusts arc good in as much us they tnml to reduce thp e.tpniises of production—they are bad_ if when competition is eliminated thoy 'are not content sis their reward with a. sharp in tho savincs effected in tho co«t= of production, but also incrc.w exisling prices. Eememlier, however, a deniflcmtic form of "overnment such as exists in Eng-lish-spfakinsr countries ha= full powpr to control tlii'SP excesses. In thp Unifpil Stilts nnd in Unulnnd tliosp trust: i-or-porntio'is are Kiibjppt to s(nt;irnry control. Rnilwiiy froicrliU nnd fnrps nre si tvpk'itl instfliicc nf the sticoo=<=fnl op"rn- | tioiK of this coiit'-01. H porl.ainly is dei J sirable that in Ihe Dominion nffoctivo t «lpp<; should be tnken to control fritPf? i, tiv limiting undue profits, nnd thereby to im-isl in that more equable distribution of wealth tl>nt is the ultimate object '. of tho Lnbour Party. i. "Tn Npw Zealand let us nljove nil thinss j avoid the rule of extremists and crn»ks; let us remember tho old maxim, 'Tho

truth is in the middle. . As was well pointed out by Sir John FiiiiUay sonic years back, our. statutes havo aimed at providing equality of opportunity for (ill. (iiven this, let individual merit have (ho fullest scope, except where it becomes, as in an evilly-directed trust, an enemy of the coiniiniiuty. 1" U'' s VVI, . V 3' ol, can S o ' an inventive and progressive nation. "Finally, above all, is it not lolly to attempt to overthrow the present social system, tlio gradual growth of centuries of thought and experience, without having a very clear and exact idea of what ia to replace it? The safest progress is gradual evolution, nature's own groat method—much better to improve rather th-in attempt to overthrow, and then to rebuild amidst destruction nnd chaos."