SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY.

Dunstan Times, Issue 753, 22 September 1876, Page 3

SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY.

No. I.—Productive Industries. It ia a thoroughly ascertained fact that n°ver, within the present century was the productive industry of Great Britain in so unsatisfactory a condition as at the present time, and this melahcholy state of affairs is evidently ro-acting upon the'GMonies, more e ’pecially in regard to ourselves, as, notwithstanding all our capabilities for well doing, wo are placed in the anomalous position of living in a laud of plenty with poverty pressing hardly upon us, where ‘ otherwise we should be rich ; and what is worse, starvation, coupled with a dearth of employment follows in our footsteps, when work should he readily obtainable by every one willing to labor. What is the cause of this unnatural state of things is a question which suggests itself ? and there follows the answer, that we are suffering from our past extravagancies, the good fortune of previous years having created expensive and extravagant habits thoroughly incompatible with present legitimate earnings. In fact, we may say, society by k long course of previous prosperity has become so disorganised that it cannot keep its expenditure within its income. However we may desire to disguise the matter, and however unpleasant it may be to refer to it, there is still this plain fact sticking out before us that, in all industrial employments a much lower rate of remuneration will have to be submitted to, while,' at the same time, the gains in other walks of life we must bo content to modify accordingly ; and the ’sooner w r e look our difficulties ia the face, and boldly acknowledge the necessity which exists for “cutting onr coat according to our cloth ” the better it will be for us. In dealing more immediately with ourselves the productive aud distributive industries of New Zealand were never in a worse condition ; and there is no disguising it, that the cause of the evil is J :Kat Hhe cost of production is considerably in excess of the value of the articles produced, whence follows the natural consequences that trade is out of joint, and labor goes about begging for employment because it cannot be profitably utilised. Any cheapening of labor is always a very unpleasant subject to refer to ; still, the plain fact stands prominently out that unless a considerable reduction in the rate of wages ia' submitted to things can only continue to go on from bad to worse. Nothing is more plain to an observing mind, that from whatever basis '% thing originally smarted it has always a tendency to return to it again. Now, our basis, or starting point in respect to our productive and distributive industries must he the condition which things were in before the goldfields we e opened up, and n6 calculation can be mere correct, however disagreeable, that things, in spite of our efforts to the contrary, are rapidly resuming their old position again.

The natural consequences of the gold discoveries in Australasia gave an increased value to everything, investing the Colonies, as it were, in a state of exotic piosperity ; or, figuratively speaking, from a moderatesized plant we almost immediately developed into an overgrown cabbage. Whilst 'gold was easily obtainable everything proceeded morrily along, and assumed such a degree of permanency that people persuaded themselves that it must last'; but time, the great leveller of all things, gradually brought about a change, ami ave find, as one of the effects of the re-action, that gold-mining is less remunerative than any other industry, and looking into the subject further, another fact crops up, viz., that mining for copper and tin was, at the period we refer to. actually more profitable to all concerned than mining for gold is at the present day, and the cohsequences are that labor not having suffered a corresponding diminution in value, eats up more than it produces, and it matters little whether it bo gold or any other metal or mineral, unless under some specially favorable circumstance, the pro duction of the article is only attended with loss; and failing a remedy— in the shape of reduced rates of wages—the almost collapse of our mining industry is plainly evident in the future. It may he argued, why has this unfortunate state of affairs been so suddenly brought about ? Such, however, is not the case, it is only apparently so, the real cause of the evil day having been staved off is, that the Colonics borrowed foreign Capital to a very largo extent, for the construction of vast public works, the expenditure thereupon continuing our spurious prosperity, when otherwise, by the natural course of events, everything must have fallen greatly in value. This second help to an artificial existence is almost at an end by the completion, to a considerable extent, of

tho works undertaken, and the labor employed on tboir construction finds itself thrown oh its own resources again, but with this difference, that we have eaten our plum ca'ko. Nothing but hard delving will do now, while, at the same tithe it becomes imperative upon us to stimulate our productive industry to the utmost to pay the interest hpon tho meney which wo have borrowed, and whether we like it or not tho labored the country,'ds the real mainspring of its development and prosperity, must contribute the largest proportion towards this end. The distributive industry of the Colonies plays, but an inferior part to its productive industry, the business of the former being so entirely dependent upon 'the latter, that without tho one the other can have no existence. The production of metals and wool may be said to be our only legitimate articles of export, the exportation of other products mostly depending upon an excess of supply over local demands, the matter of their production for a foreign market being one of a very questionable profit, and which, taking grain as tho chief of these, is only so in highly favorable seasons, and then the minimum is so small as to be almost unapproachable to the producer. It would be deemed a very ill-judged proceeding to be found sailing in a ship with the knowledge that it had sprung a leak, and must ultimately founder, when, instead of taking measures to prevent this contingency, persuade ourselves that all was right and we should arrive in port safely. Such a simile unfortunately represents the state of our raining industry ; and while the cost of raising the metalliferous wealth of the Colony absorbs the whole, and oftentimes more than its intrinsic value, it requires no great amount of penetration to define the end. The difficulty is one which cannot be met by any half measures, but must be looked boldly in the face and done battle with accordingly ; and how much better is it for us to be prepared for the storm looming in the distance,Hlsfeh to find ourselves overtaken and unable to withstand its effects. It is not too much for us to say that the present state of the labor market, as related to the productive industry of the country, cannot, under any circumstances, continue much longer. A more equitable arrangement must be arrived at.