Page 6 Advertisements Column 5

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 66, 11 December 1919, Page 6

PUBLIC NOTICES, TEMPOIU MUTANTA.It TIT NOS MUTAiiUR IN ILLIH. (The times are changing and we with lliem.) THE EVOLUTION OP ECONOMICS.

It doesn't require a professor of economic.s to givL' the reason why. Prior to the war Mie Dominion's raan-poiver was about 300,000. Out of tihis 112,500, tli? ilower of the land, enlisted; 17,000 have paid the supremo sacrifice, and about 20,000 permanently incapacitated, and tho recent epidemic adds another 5000, making the total 42,000; and, with no immigration, wo will be handicapped for a year or.so. And does not this also apply to the wholo of the Empire? During the second year of the war, production of man's requirements was reduccd materially, and our armies and munition workers had adopted a hig'hor standard of living, and twice as imichi used in tho shape of .clothing, boots, meat, butter, cheese, etc., etc., which thousands upon thousands unfortunately were never accustomed to prior to war, and at tho timo the prices of those commodities wero not a burdon to tlijs soldier and tho munition workers, as'in the first instance the soldier didn't pay for them, and th,ft munition workers didn't .feel them owing to tho enormous wages paid. Now the war has censed tho soldier is seeking '"employment and the munition worker's wages, for argument sake, aro down to about 35 per cent, over pre-war ratc-s, -with Ms requirements about 50 to GO per cent, higher, owing to the world's shortago and with a desire to live at tho same status as during the war. The Empiro's wlieels of industry (with a tired people) are at a reduced speed, for tho want of raw material, and the products of tihe land are about two years behind, and until they get back to normal, and with huge short-1 ages' as at present, the pinch will bo j felt. The workers _ rightly demand a I higher standard of living, which creates I a heavier demand on production, and, until it is overtaken, with the Continent on the vorgo of starvation, how can | prices recedo? If they do, wages must, also, in a lino with Japan and other 1 Eastern countries. Tin's is a 'complex question. Profits are now taxed 7s. fid. in the £. ■For instance, an industrial concern with a working capital of -£100,000, paying 7 per cent., yielding ,£7OOO, is taxed 76. 6d. in the J), which brings its earning power down to about 41 per cenli. Who would be worried about industry when War Bonds are paying per cent., ■free from taxation? This is the question to bo considered for tho salvation of the Dominion. Champion wishes his people to understand that this essay is not for advertising purposes, but to guide 'his candidates, as he is an acknowledged authority on economics, as well as muscle-raising. V., Auckland.