Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1919.

Hokitika Guardian, 23 October 1919, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1919.

AN APPEAL TO THE NATION. Once more the British Prime Minister steps into the industrial breach and appeals to the nation for sanity and

sobriety in tho cause of production. Mr Lloyd George spoke recently at Sheffield, a* great industrial centre, and there is undoubted need for the sane men of the country to go on emphasising the position till the national situation is realised, and the nation as a whole settles down to real work,* and the business of production. The financial burden Great Britain is carrying riis now tremendous and unless trade is re-established to lessen tho debt, the burden will be beyond endurance. In the ultimate adjustment of the economic situation, it is not wealth alone which pays, for in £.S.D. there is not the bullion, were it all commandeered to meet the situation. It is not sufficient that the printing press should go on making paper money, that has not stabilised value, unless industry is behind it all, making goods and commodities, and the necessaries of life, literally, to bring in wealth from other countries to back the paper, money. 'ln 'any financial 1 cataclysm which might befall the Home country, the paper money would be valueless, and in that dire extremity-—non© would be greater sufferers as a class than the laborers depending on a -wage. It is of the greatest importance to avoid any great national calamity, that the nation’s credit should be beyond reproach. Judging by the frequency and the urgency with which the financial situation is being emphasised at Home, is not an impossible occurrence if things drift as they have been doing. The earning power of the nation has to be | increased, and it follows very clearly if that comes to pass, the earning power i of the workers will not only- be estab- ; lislied, but will be possible of further 1 increase. The spirit of warfare carried into the industrial situation is fatal to the national fabric. That. fact has been told to the workers by their own leaders, and still there are those who are blind to the gravity of the situation. From what has been told us through the cables, national economies are in full swing. This is best emphasised in the remarakble curtailment which is being made in the naval expenditure. Here is a branch of expenditure the effect of which is to uphold the national security of the Empire at Home and abroad; but: the call for economy is so real and pressing that as soon as the Peace Treaty is ratified by the United States and our kinsmen become an ally with us in the common purpose of the League of Nations, the overseas naval stations are to he closed and British ships' in foreign waters where they are acting as patrols to keep the seas I free for commerce, are to he called Home. Here indeed is a full guarantee of the British good faith, and so forcible an expression serves to emphasise the gravity of the whole situation. The British Premier’s appeal is genuinely whole hearted and it is hoped will reach the heart of the nation. Mr Lloyd George lias proved himself over and over again the friend indeed of the nation. It was a great privilege to have a man such as he at the helm of State in the dark hours of the war, and though now the clouds of war have rolled by, we must realise that victory was bought at a. tremendous price, it is necessary still to trust the man at the wheel to shape a course which will bring the Ship of State again into smooth waters and a safe haven of finance. The Premier needs all the backing he can get, and above all the confidence and good will of those to whom he is devoting his life and energies so. unselfishly.