NOTES OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 199, 18 May 1920, Page 6

NOTES OF THE DAY

The much-talked-of levy on capital for the purpose of reducing tho. war debt has been decisively turned down by the Imperial Committee of Inquiry. The committee has, however, reported in favour-of the 'taxation of war wealth in the form of increased earnings and profits and anticipates the raising by this means of an addition of 550 millions sterling to the revenue. As the estimated deficit for the.current 'financial year is 473 the additional revenue would provide a welcome' means of the .scale. The subject is one that bristles with difficulties, but the general principle of a heavy tax on war profits, and a particularly heavy one on greatly increased war profits, is thoroughly sound. While the struggle was in progress supplies in Britain had to. be obtained with dispatch, and there was often no time to drive sound commercial bargains and for some classes of transactions no ready means of estimating- in advance what would be a fair price. The result was the accumulation of vast fortunes. in private hands. We should have lost the war had we stopped supplies to higgle over prices, but .there is no reason why what was lost on the one hand should not be collected by the taxgatherer on the other. o * * *

There is a general opinion abroad that a great deal more nas been happening in Japan than appears through the veil of censorship and cable interruptions. The workers are in a ferment striving for fuller economic and political rights, and both they and the middle-classes have been shamelessly exploited by profiteers during and since the war. The country, however, seems to be far from ripe for revolution in the Russian or even the German sense. The chief ground of dissatisfaction politically is with the existing franchise, which is based on a property qualification. The demand for universal manhood suffrage is an old one, but lately has gained much in force. , A dispatch from Sydney this morning contains the announcement of a victory at the recent elections by the conservatives and the defeat of universal suffrage. This means that the present _ pro-perty-owning electors are unwilling to extend the vote to'the proletariat. An immediate victory does not seem to have been expected in Japan, where it has been freely prophesied that the struggle will last for five years, but will be won by the mass of the people. The present movement is said to bear many resemblances to the crisis of 1868,; when feudalism was in its death throes and the caste system was effaced.

The spread of the communist movements in Germany reported in to-day's cable messages recalls the fact that the objective of the originators of the German upheaval was a revolution on the Russian model, in a striking article in the iVMieteerith Century and After for March, Mr. F. Sekton Delmer describes in greater detail' than has hitherto been published the course of the German naval mutiny at the end of October, 1918. It was this mutiny which completed the moral collapse of Germany. Its extent and gravity were carefully concealed up to the last -minute from even well-informed German people not actually on the spot. The mutineers aimed at the establishment of a Soviet Republic, and when things had reached such a pas's that no officer dared show his nose • in the streets of tho naval ports, the Government sent.for HerrNoske, the Socialist deputy, to try to deal with the men. Herr Noske was quite unprepared for the state of, affairs he found, but by soft words and clever temporising appealed to the men as a fellow Socialist, and as they had no . outstanding leaders was voted to tho command of the town of Kiel. _ He'quickly got in touch with A hjs ' colleagues, Ebert and and •by the prompt action of these men the extremists found themselves ousted from the control of the' mjn'ement and the_ revolution side-tracked from,Sovietism to the safer lines of democracy. Whether the Soviet idea would have appealed to the German people'in any case'is open to ' doubt,. but. -thereV is no doubt that the prompt action and resource of Herr Noske at a critical moment 'constituted a notable service both to Germany and Europe.

Some hopes of. a practical attack on the housing problem were raised ■when a deputation •' representing the Carpenters and Joiners' Union and otherf Labour bodies interviewed the Prime Minister on Saturday. Such references as were made to the available supply of labour and other matters demonstrate, however, that there is great need of a methodical examination of the position which would definitely bring 'out the facts and show just what resources are available with which to overtake tho existing shortage of houses. The Labour bodies apparently arc of opinion that sufficient labour is available if it is properly organised and only really necessary buildings are put in hand. This is far enough from being substantiated, but the unions certainly ought to be given every opportunity' of making good the assertion of one of their spokesmen that they are prepared to find the labour, that is required. 'Another question that calls for systematic treatment lis that of timber supply. Far as the destruction of !forests has gone ini this country, the present shortage of good timber must be attpibuted rather to disorganisation than to the depletion of local supplies. The kauri forests still standing aro ,a .mere remnant, but ' the Government retains some such forests, notably Waipoua, which might be worked with great advantage in existing circumstances. Much larger quantities ,of mature timber than now exist in the far north are still available in the southern part of Auckland province and on tho West Coast of the; South Island, and if these supplies are turned to the best account under a sound forest policy ths Dominion ought not to go short of good native-grown timber for many years to come, and ultimately will be able to produce a surplus. The provident use of its indigenous forests represents New Zealand's only hope of obtaining timber at anything liko reasonable priceß as time goes on. Whether or not an increased importation of Oregon pine would give momentary assistance in .overtaking the housing shortage, ho lasting relief is to be looked for in this direction. The shortage of timber is worldwide, and is becoming more acute year by year.* Under .such a policy as the Forestry Department is no doubt elaborating, however, it ought to be possible to guav,\tce fairly liberal supplies of native timber for a long time to come.