Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1920

Hokitika Guardian, 20 October 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1920

LABOR UNREST. m The labor unrest in Britain promise to culminate in very serious condition for the laboring class. Even before th present strike commenced, there werj many thousands of unemployed cause 1 by the loss of trade through the glu in industry resulting from high cos' preventing sales. The coal strike hit at the vital needs of industry, for »1 the great industries of England de pend on coal. The ranks of the unem '' ployed are thus growing by thousands The total cessation of production in th 1 matter of industry is serious at nn; 1 time. Just now when the nation i: > in the throes of an economic crisif as a result of the huge war debt it haf to discharge, the position is more acut< than ever. The situation has neve] been as bad as it is now and the country was never so ill prepared to meet it The people of England to-day are fighting the enemy within the gates, anc the civic conditions will be more rigic and inconvenient than they were during the period of the war. England will be transforming into a great war camp :r preparation for a national struggle. Perhaps Parliament • might he able to do , something, but when the unicn leaders have failed to cajole their followers, there is not much hope for Parliament to step in with a chance of success. Apparently the malcontents among the strikers have got a lesson to learn, ?nd the pity is that in the learning they carry with them so many unwilling pupils. Whether the Bolshevik element has got the upper hand or not, is not made clear; but that element is in England as elsewhere, and it has , got to be handled—if industrial peace and national prosperity are to be secured. That may perhaps not be a light task, but it is a necessary one, and if tins is considered the time to give the gentry their lesson then the English people will not shirk tlio task. The labor unrest and its result carries in its train serious consequences for unionism. The great dislocation of industry, and trade will be a tremendous loss to the country. If the trade cannot (be done so much earning power will be lost, and labor must be the sufferer. The slump that is reported to be so general may if it becomes too general, be a disaster; for at the present high rate of wages and the| heavy cost of production, a.manufacturer cannot carry on his business at a loss. The great disorganisation of trade in England, will divert • orders elsewhere, and from this cause alone, there will be a tremendous loss to the workers, for in many instances that trqade may not be recovered again. Th P rough and ready means of a strike ;>t this juncture will thus make confusion jv-nro confounded. The ranks of the unemployed will increase iby the hundred thousand, and what is the prospect ahead of them with winter advancing? The ranks will so swell, and the need for earning be so great, that they will seek employment where they can get it. That will b© the moment when unionism will bo on its trial. During the war period and since, combined labor was in the position of asking what it wished and being in the position of enforcing its demands. That was when the life of the nation was assailed. The period is past, and it has left its huge burden of debt contributed to by the extravagant way in which often the demands of labor had to be met. Now the tension is past and the country is face to face with the resultant consequences of the orgy. Realising that the debt must be paid, the task has to be faced with a regard for the full difficulties. They are numerous and a strike such as is now prevailing adds enormously to the difficulties. But with honest intention, those difficulties must be faced and surmounted. Labor had its own way during the war, but a time has been Teaehed now when it cannot continue to have its way. The revolutionary element in labor has got to be handled firmTy, and as labor is indispensible to national life, labor mnv be sure of generous treatment if the Bolshevik party could be jettisoned, and the remainder true to the traditions of the British workman set about

giving a fair day’s work for it fair duy’s pay. That would ensure peace mid prosprosperity.

Tjik timber trade continues to receive strong support from some of the loading journals of the Dominion and we notice the Lyttelton Times lias returned to the subject again with some effective remarks. In a late issue the paper goes on to say: If Parliament decides—as it will—that the butter producers are to receive all the advantages of a free market for their produce, we hopo that the timber industry will be placed on a similar footing. For over two years now the export of white pine has been restricted and prices have been fixed by the Government for the principal reason, if not the sole reason, that there shall be sufficient timber available at reasonable prices for •butter boxes. The Government lias now laid down the principle that producers of butter are entitled to every penny of the best price that can be obtained abroad. If butter were to fetch ten shillings a pound in London, the New Zealand Government would say that that was the price that must be returned to the producer for butter consumed in this country. We think this is wrong—we are sure it is wrong—but that is the Government’s policy. In justice to the timber industry, therefore, we suggest that the prfesent restrictions as to export and as to price ought to be removed. Indeed it is pro bnible that the State ought to compensate the timber industry for the neavy losses it has suffered through being compelled to subsidise the butter producers. Anyhow if there is to be a free maket for ibutter, the timber mar- | ket cannot in fairness be arbitrarily restricted. This proposition is so self-evi-dent that argument ought to be quite unnecessary.

On the same subject just referred to, I Mr W. T, Irvine, secretary to the Do--1 minion Federated Sawmillers’ Association, referred to this matter in an interview with a representative of the Welj lington “Post”. We give his statement in full (because of its importance. Mr I Irvine said: —“The rise in the price of 1 butter again brings prominently before the public the attitude taken up by the National Dairy Association, respecting the stoppage of the export of white _ pine. The Dairy Association approached the Government to obtain cheap butter boxes at the expense of the sawmiller, gnd, although the outcry did not result in. a complete stoppage, ; t led to the restriction of Export of j both white pine and building timber. ? In addition to this restriction local 5 prices for all timbers are regulated by B the Board of Trade, the local price 3 being no relation to the export price. 1 Contrast this position with that of the t dairy farmer, who, while advocating re--3 striction of price for the sawmiller, s miller demands the world’s market 1 price for his product sold in the Do- - | minion, and contrast it with the position of the flourmiller whose wheat 's . subsidised, to enable him to sell at a J fixed price. There is nothing of that 1 sort with the sawmiller, who is lim--1 ited as to export, and is restricted as to i local price without subsidy or compeni sation of any kind—all for the benefit > of the community. The sawmiller is ' therefore compelled to become a public benefactor, and, while paying heavy taxation in the ordinary course, is ■ mulcted in the difference between the 1 export price and the local price. That implies double taxation. Is this the Government's square deal, or in any 1 sense fair play? The principle of the payment of subsidies I do not desire to discuss for the present, but if it holds good for the butter producer, it must, in common fairness, apply to the sawmiller.” Clearly there is an injustice here that must be removed’ unless Mr ■ Massey wants the public to'think that his Government is entirely devoid of principle.