The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1920. THE WAY TO PROSPERITY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 286, 27 August 1920, Page 6

The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 27, 1920. THE WAY TO PROSPERITY

When the question of convening a national industrial conference was under discussion not long ago sorao doubts were expressed as to tho ability of employers and workers to find any common ground on which to proceed. The difficult!' surely would disappear if a- prominent; place on the conference agenda wero given to the- problems of national development which were outlined by the Prime Minister when he addressed a Taranaki deputation yesterday. The effective treatment of these problems depends very largely upon the parties engaged in industry, and industrial organisations, whether of workers or employers, are of course in a, position to exert a powerful influence on the policy of the Government as it bears on tho development and utilisation of ' national resources. At the same timo the interests of both parties in industry are so completely identified : in this great matter that if free play were given to reason and common sense they would have no difficulty in agreeing wholeheartedly upon the essentials of a sound policy of national development. Such facts as Mr. Massey touched upon yesterday provide what ought to be an irresistible.incentive to co-opera-tion and united action. One of tho cardinal points he justly emphasised in that in this country thn openings for profitable enterprise infinitely exceed the human and. material resources which are available, or in sight with which to turn them to account. The' Government, .hn estimates,_ is being called upon by local bodies and others to provide .•» hundred.millions sterling for various classes of development workmeantime it hopes to raise this year some fifteen, millions in new loans. No doubt if the money and a cor. responding labour force were available, much more than a hundred millions could be spent on development works in the Dominion with an assurance of profitable results. The problem, however, is not to find some eajrly means of extinguishing the margin between resources avail', able and those that might be employed with advantage if they wore available." This evidently is impossible. The actual problem is that of securing unhampered national development by making the most of all existing resources. A' countrv is not impoverished by> being ondowed with potential sources of wealth, some portion of which, for, lack of labour and capital; must remain for a time untapped or imperfectly utilised; nor are its people prevented in these circumstances from attaining a full measure of prosperity. In such a country, however, double penalties are invited by an imperfect organisation of productive and developmental restill more by action which tends directly to throw this organisation out of gear. To the immediate waste and loss entailed there is to be added the sacrifice of material benefits which under/a "sounder policy might easily be attained by the whole population. At the stage the Dominion has reached, the really vital necessity is that plans of national development should be framed from a truly national standpoint, so that human and material, resources may bo concentrated where they will, produce tho quickest and most profitable results. In view of the disparity between current demands for public expenditure and the extent to which they can be met, it is imperative that all development and improvement works should be listed, planned and carried out in their order of importance. The Minister of Public -Works has stated that he 3s shaping his policy on these lines, and the pendinjr Public Works Statement, in which he is to elaborate his proposals, ought to open a new and promising chapter, in the history of State development enterprise in this country. Manifestly, however, the Minister of Punuc Works and the Government cannot in themselves command or ensure the effective concentration of resources which is,the key to material progress and social betterment in this country. If the policy of concentration ' is to serve its intended purpose it must be made as nearly as possible universal, and it is for the people themselves, who carry on the work of the country, to say whether or not this standard is to be approached. Good planning and the prosecution ofi -works in their order of importance are in themselves vital, but all that is attempted in this direction will produce poor results unless some means are found of cutting out the enormous waste of time, money, and energy now occasioned by what is called industrial unrest. At best little will be accomplished in broadening and strengthening the economic organisation of_thc_ Dominion so long as its existing industries arc being sapped and undermined by (he methods now widely in vogue, methods conspicuously exemplified in the. reduction of coal supplies to which Mr. Massey referred yesterday as one of the most serious difficulties the Government had to face. Though the coal shortage which is now doing so much to hamper and cripple industry is due in part to an actual shortage pf labour in the .mines, the root of the trouble is in the lack of co-operation between employers and workers. Sneli conditions in mining and in nt]mr industries are absolutely inconsistent with the pitch of organisation that must'be attained if national development is to prwod at a satisfactory pace and with irond results. At the same time in fairlv examinins'tliß problems and possibilities of national development, omplnyjrs and workers would readily find an assured basis for friendly co-opera-tion. '