Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24th, 1920. WHAT PROFITEERING MEANS.

Hokitika Guardian, 24 March 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24th, 1920. WHAT PROFITEERING MEANS.

The need for action as a means to se- • cure content was very ably brought out in the article on profiteering from the pen of Colonel Mitchell M.P., which was published in the Guardian yesterday. The ex-soldier promises to be a useful member of Parliament. At least he is a close-thinking representative, and the logical deductions he draws from things as they are, brings him ! very close to cause and effect in the matter of public unrest and discontent. What is happening in one phase of life, reflects very quickly in another, and a very vicious circle is in operation, i However, Mr Mitchell is able to bring i bis arguments to very definite points, j and fined down to visible facts ,'t is j for the authorities to move in the diI rection of public protection. As Col- ! Mitchell remarks the country was splenj didly defended against the outside enemy—yet the cost was enormous. With - in now another enemy is operating, and |it is necessary to fight that opponent to the public welfare no less de- | terminedly. Tliri hugge profits being j made out of commodities in daily use, ' evgry day clothing, and other factors 1 which cover living facilities, press un- . duly on the mere wage earner, who 'if he wished may not do any pio- ' fitecring. He is limited to a daily j weekly or monthly salary which shows no elasticity, and being hound down in , this way, he finds himself the unwilling ' victim of the profiteer. Organised laj bor from time to time makes it oroI test more or less stringent, but there iis a vast body of labor unassociated | which is in a very helpless position, and | whose defence is only to revolt against J the profiteer whom they’ would wilj lingly sec brought to justice. Mr Mitchell does not mince matters in the i view that th. unrest thereby created is the germ of disloyalty and Bolshevism, and he puts it pointedly where he states the petty thief receives condign punishment when brought to justice, I hut the -profiteering robber is not con- , i sidered a culprit worthy to be brought before the bar of justice! Truly the figurative character of Justice is aptly pourtrayed in this instance as blindfolded. The unrest in this prospering country is doubtless less marked than in other places not as well favoured hut that is not a reason to slacken in attention to the main-spring of what is undoubtedly the generic causes of the world’s unrest. The Government has a task before it in this respect which transcends all other needs if the Dominion is to contain a contented people. Selfishness and greed are abroad, and those require to be checked in no uncertain way. The Government neglect to fix prices for goods, though they provide machinery to fix wages ■•’i are governed in the main by the cost of living. But this is only done where the workmen can enforce it—under pressure. The workmen who are not combined are those which suffer most in the sad plight. The Government is setting up anti-profiteering committees meantime, and if they do not make good ere 'Parliament meets, such representatives as Mr Mitchell are sure to he heard of. The social well-being of the community calls for special attention if New Zealand is to possess a contented people.