The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1925. RAIDING CAPITAL.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 October 1925, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1925. RAIDING CAPITAL.

Wuktiikh it lie i»y ;i capital levy or extravagant promises in many directions inakiim increased taxation inevitable, the Labor Party in this country appears bent- on frightening away ctipital. Indeed, where Labor is installed, the ex| eriinental legislation introduced and the general trend of the political situation has that ell’ect. The result is rt serious economic position. At Home there is the ready at hand remedy of the Labor people to levy on capital, hut sane leaders of the party are advoiating other possibilities of action to retrieve a difficult situation. One of these is Mr W. A. Appleton of the fieneral Federation of Trade Unions. In a recent article in the London Daily Mail, Mr Appleton puts the situation very plainly. Shall we make a further levy on capital, or increase the productive possibilities of labour by increasing its tasks and hours, or shall \\e agree to a general reduction in the standard of living? Capital, like every other commodity. is affected hy what may la? termed sianitv value, and during the last decade every political party in the State has been more or less fatuously engaged in raising that scarcity value. It is a truism to say that to deplete capital, either hv using it to meet expenditures which give no exchange equivalent or by frightening it away, increases the interest-hearing value of the diminished stock which remains. It is not so generally understood that this higher rate of interest will, in the main, have to he earned by the produc-

tive worker. Many are alarmed at what they call the migration of capital. They =oe in its flight, signs whirh appear ominous for British industry, for it is becoming more generally apparent that without new capital there can he no expansion rf old businesses, or creation of new ones, on scales commensurate with the needs of a nation of industrialists and traders. Superfluous capital is so much more transportable than is superfluous labour, and fears are being expressed that if. and when the revolutionaries have achieved their ideals there will he little capital left for the financing of the needs of the new society they intend to * create. Even the revolutionaries are louhting. therefore, the wisdom of fur- <

thcr depict ing capital. Almost every thinking workman knows that the outstanding cause of our present industrial depression is our inability to produce exchangeable commodities at the prices demanded bv our foreign competitors. ]u his heart lie knows that our future | reductive efforts must bo great enough to permit of much lower prices. This due- mu necessarily invoke reductions ni "ages, lint u imperatively demands ihat all. and not merely a portion, earn the lull value of the wages they actually receive. Neither does this great productive effort suggest or require that the honest worker shall work longer or harder hut it iloes demand that the dishonest worher shall he laithfully dealt v.ith. and that the army of functionaries now doing lor the people what the people, with their increased leisure, could wisely and advantageously do for themselves, must he drastically reduced. Tt demands, too. that factories,

railways, and shops he more scientifically and continuously utilised. Non*' of these is at present exploited to its fullest capacity, and to the extent that it is only partially employed overhead

charges are prepiortionatcly increased, and potential earnings of plant, much- ] inery. and fixtures are proportionately t increased. The operators, the human < element, must in some way meet these 1 deficiencies. Two very serious considerations emphasise the importance of using fixed capital to its fullest < a]>■),.jiv. It this were done many thousand' of unemployed might he aliscrhod. and new constructions safely postponed. As the lost of new construction i-, approximately double what it was before the war and the interest and the redemption of this extra cost must ultimately affect selling price, it. fellow- that a fuller use of existing mean- of production would help, hoth at Home and abroad, those who sell n hat the workman makes, l! has recent Iv been suggested that all may have to face a lower standard of Ic - ing. Hut there are cogent reasons, physical and ethical against reductions, h i- just as desirable to distinguish quite clearU between .standards of living and standards of pleasure, and ii reduce the latter if by so doing tin, former may be preserved. Standards of living vary 100. not merely as he tween classes hut actually within classes. Wind the scientist declares to lie sustaining and beautifying is accepted and enjoyed hy minorities in every chi ', lull is reje led w ith something like contempt by millions who regard cverv curtailment, of favourite foods, or drinks, or pleasures, or fads, as personal outrages, to he resented with force it mcessary. Their altitude is understandable hut imt helpful, and it imiv become necessary to in-ist that the slacker shall work and that the mere pleasure seeker shall have leweopportunities. II seems only necessary add. I hat sensible remarks such if the loivgoing if delivered to the industrialists 'll prone to di-loente indu'itlV at their own sweet will, a better iiuilerst.'iiidiiig "I the cconmni p"-1-[li.ii would soon prevail. Till, progress regarding lie- -el t Icincn I of the shipping -trike 'cciii' to l "' ijiiite -a [ isfacl urv. ll is tieing broughtat;,ntt. too. m a niii'i reasonable way. Wh'-i" the men will not lake advan-la.-e of ihc chan c to reman the ship-. Irce labor i- put ah lard, and the boat' are leaving. The crev. ot a -Icamni at I,y t telton iccoivcd a ,-harn lesson mi Satunla.x. Wlieii alter a-.:feeing to go aboard the-, deserted at the la-t moment. hoping to hold iq> the -hip for a further period Withmri more ado. free labor mt- placed aboard the steamer, and tin boat sailed, lent ing lhe *re w quite -i landed, and with ample time on I it. i P hands to realise in w foolis'nli t h"y ha < acted. I" Ol her port - tlm erew - are coining forward aginn. bowing that tealt.-at i*»n ha i oine at last, and tln-y arc finding that in New- /.calami there i a dill'crciit position to that of Ansfraloi ■'lore bailor goVcrnineiits aio enmfenacmg the ji-fs of recalcit ra in - in a way far too on--enraging tor the public Heal. We mav iittitginc what the positon would be here were .Mr Holland and those supporting him. in power. in-.tead of the produce of the country being i u the high seas destined for a market ready to receive it. the butter and meat would still he in harbor. wasting in value, and idle ships, losing the opportunity to pay their way. The loss in such a contingency would le enormous. The producers

have some hint nf it by reason of (lie 1 i.'i ll ks declining to advance more than Is .'id for Initter for shipment. Tlie banks must ploy for sale limmeo. and it is conceivable if the settlement here had not been possible the adranee would drop lower and lower. Keen though there was a much higher market ruling at Ifome let- the eonnnoditv. Every sympathy will lie fell for the producers in Australia who are sullering lieeanse their produce is not koine moved to market, and satisfaction will he fell that at least under safe and stable government. w hich labour parties cannot preientl to afford. the Dominion enjoys a decided advantage. With such an cxperiotuc in mind, the country should determine net to place itself at all w ithin t Ik* grip of a party which could wreck the fortunes of the country were it helped In power with votes on November lilt.