The Hokitika Guardian WEDNESDAY, NOV. 16th, 1921.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 November 1921, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian WEDNESDAY, NOV. 16th, 1921.

THIi MOST PRESSING I’ROBI.EM. By the courtesy of Mr F. .Vhailcr Weston, the President of the Now Zealand Hmplmyors’ Federation, we tvr* able to publish in Another column some

remarks made by that gentleman at the opening of the annual meeting o! til,. Federal ion in Wellington this morning. Mr Weston, it will interest many of „ur readers to know, i- a s. n of District Judge Weston, 'ho was station. d on the Wost Coast, f.i.’ many

V.and alToi wards retired from the ■15.-I.cll to follow his 1.101c5.i,,,, ill (’l.lisirliiHrli. "here while rallying no a very .\6 nsivr prin lice 1.. rim- <■■ ~„.|.-i I, o-iol -ervit- Ik ■ ..m,inout \ a, a no nib. r of til North ( ant * l bill \ miiieallon Pe-.l'd >ml “O'* '' important’ pnbli. bode 11l son. i.b-pre-id nl .1 Hie I lli|il.oyi t • • I'■ >l' ' tion, after gradual ing from Canto,bury Colloe-. villi I on- I uolilics took up the practice of .aw himself. and now. like bis father n.-foic him. is finding time for half a iloz.u other activities associated "itli the industrial and .i-ommorrinl life of the country. This introduction seems m - cessai'v to make it plain to the voting,ugeneration oil the Coast that Mr Weston speaks with more than the authority of the mere dilettante, when lie discusses financial and industrial problems.

In the portion ol his address we quote this evening Mr Weston deals more particularly with the prices ol our primary products, finally reaching the con, lesion, which In* expicsses in ’ IS first sen Lein e. that, bur farm.us "ill have to recoil l|e themselves .o lo'V'l prices than those they were leeeiving ,l*ii ill.- the war and timing the first two years ~f peace. 11 is arguments see:.! to follow pul feelly logical lines.

•The inability of the European nations to maintain the goltl standard, political and social tiniest in Central and E.istteru I'll lop* and tin* iuftation ol currencies bv using tin* printing pi'est as a method of raising loans,” he says, “mean the loss of the essentials of stability of exchange and political security. The real impoverishment ol the belligerent countries through t hit war lias become clearly apparent now tint? the fictitious prosperity due to increased national borrowing and the feverish post-war demand for certain commodities, iriespeetive of their cost, has disappeared. This combined with heavy taxation has decreased* the purchasing power of all communities.” This is the whole explanation of the tardy demand and low prices that are vexing the soul and emptying the pockets of the primary producers in New Zealand at the present time. Mr Weston’s statement of the position was intended to support his contention that with the falling prices for products there must b>* a corresponds ing reduction in wages. With the economic soundness of this contention wo have no quarrel. If the cost of living, as the Government Statistician’s figures show, is steadily coining down, then flic workers would sillier nothing from an wquivalctiL reduction in their wages. Mr W estou emphasise this point in another way. ‘‘lt is true”, he says, “ev, ryouc will have less money lot* his share, but the reduction in prices would menu that money would he worth more. To effect this, the worker must, and I think will do his part. Already my information is that his work is much more steady and continuous than it was a yenr ago. He is throwing off the sloth, the result of excessively good time*, just as the employer is jettisoning extravagance and waste. He must, however, recognise the necessity of a reduction ill money wages.” To all this we can freely subscribe. We hc-

lieve that the averag working mail today is fully impressed by the needs of tfft situation, and that he will do his part ungrudgingly to restore the country to normal conditions, no matter how long the fight may he. Hut the employer, on bis side, must set* that the compact between Capital and Labour in this weary task is an equitable one and that no colour is given to the iterated and reiterated assertion ol irresponsible agitators that employers are magnifying the needs ol the country and tliir own difficulties for the imrpose of keeping wages down permanently.