The Hokitika Guardian THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1923. STATE CONTROL OF INDUSTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 22 February 1923, Page 2

The Hokitika Guardian THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1923. STATE CONTROL OF INDUSTRY.

Sih Arthur Goi,Driven is best known to readers, perhaps, .is co-chairman of the Hritisli-Australinn Woo] Realisation Association. He was so appointed because of the work lie did in controlling the Rritish wool trade during the war time and immediately after, when he was Director-General of Raw Materials in the Ministry of Munitions. .As Director-General of | Raw Materials. Sir Arthur Goldfinch obtained a most extensive knowledge of the State control ot industry during war time, and ho speaks with authority on the subject of State control generally. It was on this subject that he recently addressed himself to members of the Ri-pdfoi'd Textile Society. He examinee his own expoifences and the

experiences of Government generally, to aseertoin whether State control of industry would give results Ix'ttel* than, or even as good as. private enterprise. The conclusion which Sir Arthur Goldfinch has come to is that State control would not he as efficient in peace time, it would not give as goud results in production and distribution as private enterprise. Fiist of all. Sir Arthur Goldfinch defended the Civil Service of Great Britain against the attacks which bad been made upon it. charging it with waste. State control of industry, at any rate in a war of the magnitude of that which we waged for four years following 101 l was imperative. Tinevitably there were blunders in that control, for the simple reason that tin* civil servant is just as human as any other man, and, therefore, not infallible. There was waste, anil there were losses. But he asked what was the preportion of waste and of losses to the magnitude of the production and distribution which the Civil Service, with the help of the best business brains in the country, handled? He asked: Was there no waste; were there no losses in private enterprise, was there even no Fraud? He then gave instances, where, in private enterprise, colossal loses had boon made through overoptimism, where colossal frauds had been perpetrated through the overconfidence of the people. As to the necessity of State control during war time, the lecturer pointed out that when demand suddenth, expands far beyond The established channels of supply. competition ceases to operate effectively. The Army Contracts Department, therefore, rightly considered that it was its duty to intervene actively in extending the channels of supply and to devise new safeguards for preventing private operators from abusing the position and exploiting the necessities of the State unduly to their own enrichment. To the credit of tlio trading and manufacturing community the majority of them understood and accepted the position and wore ready to co-operate with this department in devising means for procuring a rapidly-expanding supply of military equipment at fair prices, ft was true that a minority in almost every trade and, in a few trades, a regrettable large minority, offered resistance to the new state of tilings, using every means to defeat it in detail. As the war advanced tile vast majority of the people realised with growing clearness that all objections in principle to State control must he swept aside until victory was secured. Wlint right, / it was felt, had a. few privileged citizens to become rich as a consequence of a life-and-doatli struggle, in which the country was pouring out its wealth like water. During war time. Sir Arthur Goldfinch affirms without hesitation .the intervention of the Government in the trade, commerce, and industry of the country, was in no important instance pushed too fast or too far, hut in many cases, on the contrary, it was not instituted early enough, and proceeded too slowly towards logical developments, which, in the long run, could not lie avoided. Ho is convinced that if the immeasurable misfortune of another great war falls upon her. Great Britain will begin in the matter of State control of industry where she left off in 1918. and that much more drastic and thoroughgoing interference with the freedom of private traders, would inevitably follow. Something approaching conscription for national purposes of civilian resources of every kind, including labour, skilled and unskilled, must in future ’accompany military conscription. Sir Arthur Goldfinch declares that in his view the success of- Government control in war lime offers no encouragement whatever to tlu renewnl of such a venture in peace time. The two propositions he declares he quite easily reconciles. The war violently interrupted many of ihe fundamental conditions upon which the beneficial working of the competitive system depended, and if tile State had not intervened to protect the community, private enterprise would soon have degenerated from a healthy basis to something approaching a system of monopolies oppressive and irritating to the victims and demoralising to those who through no merit of their own were able to levy a toll upon the community. Private competitive trading wiprks infinitely bettor under peace, time conditions than in war time, and it is also clear that ill war time State control was favoured by conditions that would not exist in peace time—for instance, bv the enthusiastic .service of volunteers from the trade, and the sympathy of the great body of the public. It might be asked surely the experience of State control of industry during the war may give reason to hope that fuitlior experiments on similar lines would obviate some at least of the grave imperfections which everyone must admit are always latent in the competitive and’ capitalistic system. Could State control bo applied so as to increase the production of commodities ? Would it conduce to a fairer distribution of commodities throughout the community? Would it help to modify or abolish the wage svstem. substituting something more

acceptable to the sense of dignity of the workers, and more conducive to

j thoir well-being? Would State control 1 ' help to solve the most perplexing ecoI nonlie paradoxes, the solution of which | ! would remove half the material ills of ( ! mankind. He regretted to say lie . | found himself unable to discover any approach to a solution of these pro--1 bLcms from the country’s war time i experience. It is perfectly true that I everyone found well-paid work during j fhu latter years of the war, and etort j producer found a ready market for his j output at good prices. That was bei cause the war diverted millions ot men 'to military service, and produced a I demand for a vast quantity of miliI tary materials in addition to all the 1 ordinary needs of mankind. Ihe belli--1 goront Governments spent money like water, and all the difficulties of sell--1 jug prices and of production cost which j have coiltinnally and anxiously been , adjusted in peace time disappeared for j the time being because the belligerent, nations wro prepared to exhaust all | their savings of the past and to pledge freely the gains of the future in pru- • scenting a war in which they coiicciv--1 ed their very existence to he at stain*.