Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY, JANUARY 30th, 1920. NEED OF PRODUCTION.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 January 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star FRIDAY, JANUARY 30th, 1920. NEED OF PRODUCTION.

In the course of his inaugural address to the Chamber of Deputies, the new Premier of France, M. Milierand, struck the right note when he said the era of self-sacrifice and restrictions had by no means come to an end; and, tersely and cogently, he sums up the duty of citizens in four words : “ Produce more, consume less.” To this end, realising with the British Chancellor of the Exchequer the great importance of meeting expenditure out of revenue—realising, too, how vpry seriously unwise taxation may hamper trade and industry, he states that the French Government’s principal concern is to find fresh sources of taxation without discouraging the spirit of 1 enterprise, it being contended that war profits should be particularly heavily hit. War profits, undoubtedly, can be hard hit by taxation without discouraging enterprise—legitimate enterprise, that is to say; and it is good to see that the French premier has such taxation in view, It would be far more to the point, however, jf he had indicated the intention of adopting a tax policy which would possess, not merely the negative virtue of not discouraging the spirit of enterprise, but also the positive virtue of definitely stimulating and encouraging enterprise.. To meet the'huge liabilities left by the world war heavy taxation must be imposed. Apart from war profits, there are in the last analysis in France ns in every other country, only two sources ffopi which the vast revenues required can bp .derived. M. Milierand must tax either trade and industry pr monopoly and privilege. Ho must, in short, discourage by his new {axes either trade and industry or monopoly and privilege. It, surely, should not be di/Spult for him to choose between them. Tire Frcnd 1 people are justly renowned for their ejgrjty -of vision and their sound logic. It vvejl pe that. now their attention is so forcibly directed by post-war exigencies to questions of taxation, they may yet land the world in the right path in these mat-

(tors. To stimulate production, states M. Millerand, th.e Government proposes a formula providing for co-operation between private initiative and the State; and .the Government’s labour policy is to guarantee to labour a legitimate share of profits a,s well as organisation of conditions, and seek to prevent or settle .djsppjtes by /neaps o,f arbitral ion. This, lik,e tie W|hi|tely Committee’s scheme at Home, ppipf* to the endeavour to utilise for the work of peaoe the lessons learnt when mv compelled title nations to put forth their very best efforts in the manufacture of munitions. But, however well those Jessons have been learnt, and however weJ/ they may be put in practice in France, j,u England, or elsewhere, M. Millerand wjfll £n.d, British statesmen and all other stn.tespieA* the world over will find, that if is utterly impossible to secure to labour its legitimate share of profits so long ay monopoly and privilege are allowed to reap nj) illegitimate share of the same. Tl.iat is a hard economic fact which the stern logic of events, if no Hinder logic proves didactic, will yet compel fhp world’s statesmen to recognise.