NATIONALISATION OF INDUSTRY.

Hokitika Guardian, 21 June 1923, Page 4

NATIONALISATION OF INDUSTRY.

nrsTiNnn.suKi) socialist reCANTS. , \\ WASTEFUL AND INEFFICIENT. In a striking and significant artic-lo w in 11 recent number of the Amoriean “Outlook,” Mr John Spareo. the wellknown Socialist writer, whose works •' have been read and cpiotod the whole ! world over, deliberately and empbatie- (J allv renounces: bis former laitli in the doctrine of nationalisation. A | "As a SocialistMr Spare,, re- £ | minds bis readers, “during many years j 1 advocated nationalisation of all i mines and their eontml and adminisi t ration by the Government, with some ! sort of arrangement for actual man- | a cement bv a body representative of . ! V,’oliters, Consumers, and Clovernmont. v i | have opposed Syndicalism and its | variants, including Guild Socialism. because, in the last analysis, they all ,! j placed a dangerous power, the control j cf a great, basic industry, in the bands ■> i of a group or class, and thereby en- | aided that group ot class, through that I jj control, to dominate the life of the I | Nation, li has been my belief, an - ii important part of my faith, that a machinery could be developed which would make it possible to obviate this . evil and to attain essential industrial , I democracy.” This good Socialist, in I .short, bad dreamed of a great spirit- : I uni advance in which a collective Oolt--1 -cionsne-s and a collective tonscienj iifiu-ness would be developed. I ; DISILLFSIONMMN’T. | j Having made tins open confession i ! Mr Spargo proceeds to explain Imw his | j eyes were opened to the realities ot » ; industrial life. ”1 have to admit.” lie | continues, “that my belief in all forms 1 of nationalisation has been so strained | that it has become a tenuous thing * at b"-,i . The coilcctivi -m of the war § and post-war periods has forced mo to H admit great disillusionment. to say 8 the least. Wherever one turns for ex- “ ample.-;, the extensive experiments with 5 iialioiiali.-at.ion, the substitution ot * governiiHuital for private or quasi--3 private capitalist enterprise, slum no 61 results which can be regarded n.s etij. j courngnig or a sindug. Everywhere ■ j i m- ineili,letter, waste, ret mgr, -- 1 | simi. Our own experiences with the f ! mile r\ : was not entirely typical ; it ! whs a A , pisode of l.riei duration, and - ' tin oughout there remained in force : lit,i it a tii ut which would not have in I dor,.! as .part of a permanent p.diey : and ilic libe of "Ijirh ar,’ not iound in ; tin:- more extended experiments of i lvurnuptan lountrie-. Tlu- limit a tioiis ! 11• 11-rl'rsl in operated a-' protective dc- ! vie,-. 11u*v iimiiisl the amount nf Imrie. jin our trun-piirlnt ion sy-lem and to j liili t eouomie life hieli the experi- ! in, lit ei. 11 Id produce. Making every i possible allowance I'm- the eirciim- ! -tniices in which that experiment took ; place, i am hound to believe that lhe sum of the results attained can cud, be . I regarded as a warning against lintiiei adventures in the same direction. Ooverniiieut operation of the railways was i hai acteri-I’d by incredible ineptitude, by failure to make the most, elemenj larv j.isn'isioo for lire continuous de- | ,elopment m the transportation xys- | tern, and by the most wanton disrej gard of the larger social interests when j immediate political expediency failed I for the sacrifice of these.” Those cnservalioiis. it slnndd he reniemhered I are applied to some of the results following from a less rigid application of the principles of nationali ation. AT ITS VfOl’^r. Mr S|iirgo looks further atield for stil! more impressive examples of Ihe evils wrought by Government control. “We saw nat ionali-al ion at its worst in Europe," la declares. “I.ong before tin.- ear i liere was mu ions quetioning of the t laitli:- made lor i:alionalisnt imi bv it- advocates. fb>eerument ownership an 1 operaliuu I seemed to retard cb. ve!"tu,:enta! progress. it seemed also to be inseparable from a formidable mass ol red tape. Somehow the institution of a frank and candid comparison of governmental enterprise with the mo r advanced capitalistic eiu.erpr:-o in lit, same country invariably showed that in the loiter introduction of new ~ met ,nii I the eliinii.at ion ol the old anuses, e.utl, in general, the constant realignment of the imiu-irv or l.tisiness •to correspond ,villi human necessity was much easier than in the former.” I iii'y remarks apply to the war period, in .hi, ties ire to lie absolutely lair in hi- examination or the problem Mr e-pargo turns to the post-war period. A I’BA 1.1 JXG BUR EAI'C'R ACT. < Here he finds the ahil-i- that have 1 crept into lhe administration of iiulus- ‘ tries and .services in time of peace even more llagraut than tln.se that prevail- i ed during the time of war. “In Hus- j sia,” he states, “as in every other I country where nationalisation has been •- tried upon n large scale, an appaliing J amount cf bureaucracy has resulted. The same phenomenon is perhaps t-.v •

itt!isi .(riking of ail the phenomena mi.oiiut ued l.\ the Uttvelier it Germaity. We saw in this country during the war, how rapidly Gncornntenud agencies j grow, iiurctisiug their .-latfs, and their pay-rills ef course, and how difficult it is In cease thorn once i hoy have boon permitted to develop. 1 do not don't! fur a moment (hat forty per cent of Hie ompl tyees ol our Government at AN ashiiigton could be dropped with n proportionate gain in ellicicticy—could lie, tint is, were it not for the fact that politicians fear nothing :-o much as the bureaucracy which at once serves and masters them." Front this the writer passes on to the discussion of particular eases. CONS I DEE ED COXCLrRTOXS. Returning to basic principles Mig Spargo makes an eloquent appeal lor I economic rehabilitation by tried and | proved methods. "In my judgmentl he says, “any plan of nationalisation —meaning the substitution of Govern-/ mental for private enterprise—run -1 directly counter to the sum of available experience. Unless 1 misread the signs of the times, the great need ol the world, the fundamental requisite for economic rehabilitation, is a vast strengthening of the capitalist system of the several countries. This requires a great strengthening of faith in the security of investments and the opening up of all possible channels for investment in productive enterprises. It requires the development of a vast army of investors in every country.” On these points there remains to-day little difference of opinion among the accepted authorities. A LA ST WORD. In conclusion Mr Spargo sums tip the whole position. “For the present, at least, l am free to say,’ f he avers, “that 1 can see no hope of anything good or useful to he attained by any such extension of the power of the Government and its preponderance over the economic lile of the nation r.s Tins been suggested. On the contrary, the sooner tie can lessen those powers, reduce the size of our Governmental machine and its interference with the economic life of the nation, the better will it- he for all of us.” Here is the moral of the whole story, a moral I' X’cw Zealand well may apply to its own affairs in these strenuous days when the known highway is the road . to safety.