WANTED

Hokitika Guardian, 23 March 1920, Page 3

WANTED

A LESS SELFISH SPIRIT. i UNREST AND PROFITEERING. Writing on the prevailing unrest and the widespread discontent arising out of the high cost of living, Colonel Mit r chell, M.P.,.; for Wellington South,

• J makes appeal for a better, —a more un- ; selfish—spirit. > | “Why such numbers of a patriotic ’ | and proud people should associate themselves politically,' during the war, with J an extreme section,” he remarks, “was | always a mystery to those on the ! field. We were Jconvinced that the same courage, pride of race and Empire, and determination to maintain it,

1 1 by force of arms if necessary, attriI butes'which made our race and nation I the leaders of the world, 'were still the j dominating characteristics of our people. One therefore * looked for other reasons for their political alliance with those who are openly disloyal and antiBritish. , | “But since one’s return to this country and civil life,, the causes are all too , apparent and excusable. Few only .of these people are Socialists or Bolshe- ! viks or extremists~in any way; they are ’ i tho average law-abiding, steady salaried men and wage-earner, quite as loyal and proud of Empire as we, but, in the midst of war, they saw people grow- ■ ing wealthy all round them on the war necessities of a struggling nation arid , people; they found their own economic Conditions growing daily worse, and they took the first opportunity of voting for anyone whom they believed would alter the conditions- which op- j

! j (pressed them. They voted, as they ’ j thought, against selfishness and greed, ‘! and a state of things which they believed should not obtain in the country, j which grows enough and to spare for ■ all. Unless the conditions are altered, ! unless we have a better Christian spirit ' among our people, the spirit of disconi tent will grow and become more accentuated, until in passion the people may I hand over all .control to revolutionists, • who will sweep the whole fabric of esj tablished rights away in dealing with i the vested interests of the '.elfish, I jgrteedy and profiteering class. That ! these rights may be transferred to people even more unscrupulous, that they j may bring in their place conditions of | want- and suffering even worse than those they remove, is not considered, and it cannot be in the state of mind now being engendered among (he com- . mon people. | “In former years, competition, regu- : latcd prices, and protected the public j from profiteering, but (o-day, through ' rings, trusts, combines and price arrangements, competition in prices has almost disappeared especially so, I am told, among larger firms. As cppipetL tion no longer protected the pia&ses fjrom exploitation, the 'Government, realising that it' was its duty to step in and protect tho people, set up tribunals to stop profiteering, which rightly or wrongly, the masses believed to be very prevalent. “Wages have been raised to meet the higher cost of living in such cases where the workman could enforce it. The extremist on both sides of thp eqaLjnifling dispute have been brought together, the general strike (•loud elear(id frqni (he sky, and altogether we were not without signs of a bettor and more sottled spirit. But are we really P nct-s of the now Go-

“The first two acts of the new uo--1 vernment were, firstly to stft up tribunals to stop profiteering, and, secondly, to lift the embargo off hides and allow an immediate rise of 80 per rent. ' to 100 per cent and put thousands of pounds into the pockets of a few 1 who have held them. A free market for wool, butter, and other produce is i naturally expected fo follow, with, I | believe, the same result and bring a J consequent jump in values. Rr.ead ; is up, fjonr is up, milk are ' demanding a rise which will bo passed on, and felt severely by the people, ' especially the poor with large families, 1 and thq very hair of one’s head costs | 50 per cent, more to remove now. j “This rise in prices wifi be made the grounds for fresh demands (just and i unjust), by sections of organised labour, agd fhey in return the excuse for a further rise in the price of nej cessities. Tims the wicked circle wifi I continue until tli e culmination point j is peached, then the whole false struc- [ ture will crash to earth and bring with iit ruin and disaster. The higher prices 4 1 rise above their legitimate level, the greater and more overwhelming will the crash be. “It is generally admitted by the farming community that t-lie commandeered prices allowed by the Government for their products was fair and reasonable, and they have prospered exceed- !«..!» I.tr th/.m to nVirlmif. nciw>iilllTr fill

mgly by them is evident, especially so when ope realises that land values have gone up .50 per cent, to 100 per cent on account of these war prices for products. “One is 'forced here to ask: ‘What is profiteering?’ If it is not profiteering for tlie broker to get 80 per cent over and above a fair and reasonable profit for his hides, it is not profiteering for a merchant to get 80 per cent, over and above a fair and reasonblc profit for the* boots he makp.s fy.qin fhyse hj’dgs, arid it is not profiteering for the butcher and bqkpr to get 8(1 per cent, more'' for meat and bread. Tlie same j thing applies to wool woollen goods, and every other necessity, and tlie whole act becomes a huge camouflage. Combines, trusts and prices controllers wifi be free to satisfy fheip (ivory desire in

the way of profits and dividends. He , who has fieen endowed with five talents | in encouraged to use them to further impoverish his brother with only one ] and thousands more loyal steady, and . patient wage earners are driven over to the extremists. It seems perfectly plain that 80 per cent, to 100 per cent, on hides is over and above a fair and reasonable profit on production, which, in terms of the Government Act, is profiteering and the Act should apply, if it docs not apply, the Act is a ‘dud’ Will the board take action? It is : surety an outstanding case. Justice forbids us to opposel the extravagant

demands of certain organised sections of Labour, when we grant such huge profits to more fortunate sections of the community. There is at least as much justice in the claim of flic former yet both are unjust, and not in the public interest. ■1 “Wo gave 17,000 lives and £80,000,000 to defend this country. It now cries aloud for many millions to deve-

3 lop it—for roads, railways, schools, water power ,houses, settlements and the aged and war cripple require better pensions that they may live in decency. If we are to extract the last farthing wo can from the people for goods, would it not be just for the GovernI ment to take the whole of the 80 per j cent, to 100 per cent, or whatever sum it may be over and above a “fair and

* J " ‘ reasonable profit”- to build schools for our children, and to give them the : medical and dental treatment neces- ■ sary to develop healthy and efficient men and women, and for other public works. Is the claim of the broker, the ’ farmer, the manufacturer, or the mor- ■ chant for 80 per cent, more- profit great- 1 er titan the claim of the little children for better health and school environ- I

ment, 'or greater than the claim for a j better pension for the maimed soldiers, . though whose effort alone we have J hides to sell at all? j “The farmer justly complained that while his products were fixed at a fair | and reasonable price ‘other people’ 1 i were grossly profiteering out of them.

, "- • ~ j—i ——l7 i e> If such was so in this country it illi becomes ‘other people’ to squeal now that the right of profiteering has been ! transferred from them to the holders of hides, as it may be with wool. It is doubtful if the public ever received the full benefit of the commandeered price. Yet such does not justify the i bide merchant in demanding the right of 80 per cent, over and above a fair , and reasonable price. If it is wrong for the storekeeper, the boot, or the woollen manufacturer to profiteer it is equally wrong for the farmer or the hide and wool merchant. “The farmers (apart from the land

r speculators) are fair and reasonable , | men, satisfied with a fair price for . ! their produce if the consumer receives j the benefit, but one is not surprised j that lie wants to join the wicked bus- | ,'ness when lie sees profiteers makip^ ! fortunes out (if his produce abroad, and believes the same evil exists at home. The commandeer did not go far enough. It should have followed the raw material from the producer to the consumer, not fix the price for the grower, then hand it over to the manufacturer with little or no control. The people should know who received the great, dfference between the price of ! ra w material and the manufactured ! article, and whether such differences are justified. “We fix Synges boards and other wavs and there is no 80 p.er cent over , and above that wage. How long do we expect the wage-earner to he loyal and law-abiding, .feeling all the time that lie is the victim of injustice. If we standardise a man’s wage we must also standardise the price of necessities which that wage must buy to sustain him and bis family, The peop’e are entitled such produce grown in this country as they require to sustain life, at a fair and’ reasonable price, by all means get nil we can for the balance which is exported. ‘The market price being no longer determined by competition, has become just as much as what can be extracted from a helpless people. Is it just for us to take advantage of that' helplessness and necessity? Do we realise that it was this grabbing spirit apd greed, not thy, oratqr.y of rjooi(ilistis, which made thousands of people vote lor extremists last December? Do \ve yea lisp that there is a limit tq the patience of a people, line] that we may be nearing that limit now? A man who steals Is Vrrm -Mu iiuifrlilifiiir’K nnfkoh is i 1 thief.

fre in ns neighbour’s pocket is a tnier, .11111*receives punishment; lie who takes . ’thousands by way of unjust profit is a successful business man, y:t one wonders if his sin against humanity is not tlie greater. Is it not more-widespread and insidious?. : “My love of. the common people and our country, anil a very grave fear for . our future is my reason fpr expressing these yiews t and with qll earnestness I ask if it is not time we euffiyated a less solqsli spirit, time wo realised that we have a duty to ony neighbour as well as to ourselves. Selfishness and the?greed of a few was the beginning of Bolshevism. Is such not the seed we are sowing to-day? Yet how indignant would the profiteers he, if fine, suggested that they were thu active partners with the I.W.W. and disloyalist in its p’opagation. Are they not responsible for tlie gathering force of unrest, which, if not ' allayed may ultimately overwhelm and destroy us. On us alone, I believe, will rest the responsibility and blame. The present scfiish spirit is pot in keeping 1 with flic hpst traditions of tlie British people, nor is it, unfortunately, confined to any one section or class. If is lowering opr dignity, prestige, honour, and every no|)|e attribute so. long associated with our race. To have an industrious, happy, and united people is by far a nobler aim than ibis accumulation of wealth, “I believe tin* present system of Uov-

eminent is the best so far evolved for our people. It has many faults. Let us eradicate them and perfect our constitution along the linos of justice, equity, and brotherly love, realising that men, women, and, fittle children are more valuable find more precious than gold. Thus fqrtifiefi by riglif and justice, afi the attacks of Bolshevism and disloyalists shall fie forpyoy- vain and impotept. |,ct : ps, therefore, put away tlie hand which took hut never gayc, before it is too late,"