THE CONSUMER'S 14 POINTS.

Hokitika Guardian, 11 June 1921, Page 4

THE CONSUMER'S 14 POINTS.

(Bv Ernest J. P. Bonn)

We, of this generation, have an advantage over our. forbears in that we have lived through a period during which two distinct and opposite economic systems have been at work. -Most ol ns have been aware, especially during the war, that there was a change in the order of things, but few of us have realised the fundamental economic character of that change. We have noticedthat, whereas before the war the buyer was in command of most markets, the position has altered, and the buyer in many cases lias been red.need to the level of a suppliant. Tbo war period with its shortage is now rapidly passing from us, and it is important that 1 iofore it disappears entirely we should note some of its leading characteristics, and learn anything they have to teach us from the industrial or economic point of view. Prior to the war the consumer was the monarch of all he surveyed ; every industry was in a condition of slavery to his wishes. Trade was brisk, employment good, the standard of comfort constantly improving, the rate of progress getting taster and faster, all at the bidding of the consumer, to whom' everybody in commerce and industry bowed as the supreme authority.

l‘,ul the wai altered all that, and for the last seven years the old power of the consumer has gone. He has been reduced to subjection, and has submitted to the indignities of innumerable forms of registration, coui>ons, rationing, priority,' price-fixing and all the rest of it. So long as these inconveniences were put upon him in the name of the war he had no just cause to complain, but since the war has ended, and since many of these things still continue, he is beginning very properly to question their necessity. As the i minus Government ■departments loosen their strangling hold upon the market trade unions and trade associations are gradually tightening their grip, and it is doubtful whether Hie consumer, on the whole, is very much better off under the rule of the organised producers than he was under the rule of the autocratic controllers. The favourite occupation of both these sets of masters is pricefixing; both of them have assumed that they arc entitled to dictate to the consumer the price at which lie shall enjoy the goods and services which they are prepared to olfer him. It is, however, one thing to lix the price which the consumer shall pay, and quite another to persuade him to put his hand in his pocket and bring out the money. - 'Producers have hitherto been the slaves of the consumers ; indeed, the trade union section of the producers is fond of talking about wageslavery ; but producers as a. whole, both trade unionists and employers, are now engaged by means of nil sorts of restrictive organisation in an endeavour to rid themselves of the mastery ol the consumer, and to reach a position in which they can dictate to him the terms upon which his'requirements shall he satisfied. It is this attitude of mind, this policy,' permeating as it does the actions of all parties to industry, which is chiefly responsible for the stagnation and the difficulties with which we arc faced to-day. There can be no doubt that we in industry are faced with the most powerful movement ever known, the consumers’ strike. This great force is all the more dangerous because it is unorganised. No attempt lias been made by any party to promote it; no special pleading has been needed to giro it enthusiasm ; it is under no control; it has no leaders; it springs from that sense of right which is within the bosoms of all individuals, and it will not abate until the offence to that sense lias been removed. It is at least open , to question whether some good might j not bo done by an attempt to focus the | consumer’s point of view, and bring it j home to the minds of those who imagine ; that by sectional organisation they can alter the economic foundations of in- 1 dustry. Tf the consumers’ strike had at its service a publicity' department such as that which serves most of the trade unions, or our modern Ministries, a manifesto would be issued on something like tli'e following lines: — OUR FOURTEEN POINTS, fl) That polities have nothing to do with industry.

(2) That an article is worth what it will fetch. I (3) Tliat Capital and Labour are both j profiteering at the expense of the consumer. j (4) We deny the right of anybody to j enjoy a degree of comfort out of pro- . portion to the service which he renders J ,to the rest of society. j (6) We believe in high wages for , ■ honest and efficient work. j i(6) Any system of wages which dis- , regards production is an imposition up- ( on us. ; - (7) The development of a high sense , of individual responsibility is the only j way to secure economy and comfort for ; all! - (8) That restrictions upon output or j prices or markets are against ttie best j interests of all. . 1 • (9) That the present public expenditure at the rate of over five millions per ! day is an outrage, and has the effect of I ndding considerably to the cost of all j commodities. I (10) Tliat the maintenance of two and a half million officials and public servants is an intolerable burden upon the consumer. (11) That the interests of the whole ! community are more important than j those of any section. ! (]2) That the consumers are . the j whole community and arc, therefore, entitled to override the convenience or views of any class or faction. (13) While we understand the objee- I ; tions to what is termed “wage-slavery’ we see no advantage in a system ot freedom for producers which places con- - sinners in the chains of bondage. (14) That the only freedom which all - can enjoy is freedom as consumers, and ;• that the' public interest is best served i by safeguarding that freedom, and by - the prohibition of any arrangements, - whether by Government departments, s trade unions, or trade associations which tend to limit it. I Some of these views sound very old - fashioned in thes days when a curious r mixture of protective Socialism is the - most fashionable industrial receipt; but, they are the views which are held by the most rabid price-fixing bureaucrat or wage-raising trade unionist so soon as he leaves bis work and becomes consumer ; they are the views which, deep down in the breast of everybody, are operating to restrict demand and are bringing trouble upon industry. The - recognition of them, which is now u gradually coming back to us, will lead r us to a wider view of our functions, - cither as employers or employed, and t hasten the day when we shall both find r ample and remunerative work in the j service of consumers, who are as anxious - as over to employ us if only we will put - ourselves into proper relations with \. them.—London Commercial Journal.