Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, SEPT. 14th, 1920. THE REAL WEALTH OF NATIONS.

Hokitika Guardian, 14 September 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, SEPT. 14th, 1920. THE REAL WEALTH OF NATIONS.

Slnce the war there has been, published a huge body of literature devoted to economic, social, and industrial questions. All manner of specifics have been recommended as solutions for the various problems which beset us—socialisation, 00-«operatik>n, nationalisation, “ation's” and “isms 1 ” of every kind have been offered, and each adviser proclaims that his nostrum alone is infallible. In “The Real Wealth of Nations,” a reoent contribution to the debate, Mr John. S. Hecbt advocates, comments a reviewer, increased production. The tendency to industrialSslackness, he declares, is one of the gravest symptoms of our age. The working classes believe that restriction of output benefits them, and the delusion is shared by many entrepreneurs who cannot see beyond their own noses. They argue that the less of a commodity there is available, the higher the price will fetch; they forget that they are consumers as well as producers, and that in the former capacity they will he prejudiced by the general acceptance of this theory. The coalminers by limiting their output witli the same object they have to pay more for everything they eat or wear or use. The theory of limitation is based on a fallacy. Increased production means lower prices, but the pocket of the producer does not suffer, because more of a given commodity is sold; a greator number of wants arise for satisfaction, there is aii improvement all round in the standard of living. Mr Hecht believes that the ; erroneous notions on the subject and the consequent falling off in production are due in the main to the existing organisation of society which allows too much wealth and control to non-pro-ducers. He does not jise the latter term in a “class conscious” sense. The owner of a factory is a producer no less than an operative, while a seaman is a non-producer equally with the . shipowner. The test is whether a person creates something new or merely handles something already in being. The ‘middlemen’ include. bankers, lawyers, stockbrokers, auctioneers, shopkeepers', merchants, and the like; also those, such as colliery owners and iron masters, whose wealth is derived from handling the nation’s irreplaceable raw material. Middlemen there must be; no one will deny the importance of their services, but Mr Hecht’s point'is that, while they are in the last resort less valuable than those of the producer, they are more highly rewarded. He quotes some interesting figures from probate records in Great Britain which suggest that ; t is more profitable to be a “wealth-hand-ler” in his meaning of the term than a wealth producer. The former class lias had more leisure and money for public affairs; the latter has been so busily engaged in domestic conflict between- employer -and employee that it has meekly permitted its own exploitation. Mr 'Hecht propounds a scheme for the reconstitution of society on a. sounder basis, and though its practicability is rather doubtful, hi s theory is interesting.