The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1926. SPEED, PRODUCTION AND PROSPERITY.

Hokitika Guardian, 26 April 1926, Page 2

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, APRIL 26, 1926. SPEED, PRODUCTION AND PROSPERITY.

Oxe of the nnomalies of the present prosperity in American which so impresses tlie observant visitor, remarks a writer in a late United States magazine, is that everybody seems to have a little more time for leisure than before, although production is going forward on an enormous scale: A first conclusion might be said that the higher wages and rewards received by workers tempted or enabled them to “ take more time off” from daily toil, and that they were doing this. The tendency is not absent, but if this were the actuating motive, it goes without saying that prevalent prosperity piust

be ovansconf, for the simple reason that partial stuppage of production is only another method of eating tip or living on one’s capital. There is another and a larger reason for what the foreign visitor regards as somewhat unusual. America is not working as hard as in the old days, hut she is producing more. Speeding up processes have wrought wonders; the constant extension of machinery releases muscle; mass production is another form of industrial wizardry. Alan no longer creates his own horsepower by manual labour. The motor does this for him. It is a. matter of statistics that the horse-power per man or unit of production in America is larger-than in any other country. Wlmt does this mean? Simply that production per worker is also in excess. And since the worker receives his pro rata of output in wages or profits, he is a prosperous individual, with money to spend, and more time in which to enjoy it. A decade or more ago an accelerated production approaching the present record would qickly have brought about a congestion that would have so clogged trade as to have bred a subsequent panic. There would have been no possible means of consuming the surplus. That does not obtain to-day. Consider how man has enlarged his wants or rather how many new wants or luxuries have been opened to him. Tho automobile is a striking illustration. The motor-car eats steel by hundreds of thousands of tons; it consumes copper. textiles and rubber, to mention only a few commodities. Several million people are dependent for their daily bread on the industry ns a whole. So in t'he case of the radio and the newer inventions in a dozen other lines that have come into being within the last few years. None of these could have been sustained ill the past, To begin with, they could not have been manufactured in volume without withdrawing too many people from established and necessary forms of labour. The cost would have been too great to have permitted their use or adoption. They are made possible now by greater output per man—per unit of production. That is the secret, Machinery is doing the work. It cheapens production, and fortunately broadens tho character. It releases man to do other work. The inventive genius of the age creates more work to do. In a word this new era represents nothing more or less than exchanging the fruits of a diversified and expanded production brought into being with less effort and in less time. The speeding up process seems to have gone pretty well around the circle. The railroads are loading more weight per ear, and are hauling the cars longer distances per diem. Even in the world of banking and finance the same signs of activity are in evidence. The dollar is given no chance to sleep. Airplane mail carries the credit and debit a thousand miles overnight, and the wonderful telegraph gold settlement system, of the Federal Reserve System makes the San Franeisc'O dollar three thousand miles away almost a cash over the ran liter instrument of settlement. Will the era last ? It will if man keeps oil producing and consuming. The usual trouble attendant on periods akin to this is that the measuring stick that determines the value of wages—the purchasing power —is lost sight of. The pay envelope is rend not in the things it will buv but in the dollars numerically that it contains. Dissatisfaction, wrong reasoning and wrong leadership will work havoc with any period of prosperity, and especially so at a time like now when the industrial machine is so complex and intricate in its mechanism.

lapping as between mining and settlement. The subject was brought forward by a farmers’ representative who asked for the uplifting of mining reservations affecting river flats, so as to give holders of the land clean titles free from the ravages and damages of mining operations. In that respect, also, complaint was made that by reason of several rivers being declared sludge channels, the constant inflow of tailings and other debris had a bad effect on the land because of the rising river beds and the overflow of the streams in flood time. It was clear that the Minister had some cognisance of the matter beforehand, for he was not slow to express his candid opinion on the complication of titles in mining districts, arising from the effect of mining legislation. However, he said that the question which industry should be paramount in the district was not for him to settle, lie appreciated the views expressed and realised the position but before any change could be brought about the Government would require to be satisfied that there was a strong public opinion in need of the radical change desired. Mr McLeod admitted he had discussed the matter with his colleague the Minister of Mines, hut as yet there was no hope of a change because of the interests involved. Mining had declined and settlement was taking its place, hut rights and vested interests subsisted under the law of the land and the change which a section might desire could not bo brought about readily. The subject, however, is an important one in itself and now that it has been mentioned it will have to he realised that there will he a demand for the change. Still, for the reason given by tho Minister himself, the change cannot come quickly, if at all. There are rights and privileges granted by law, and on those rights and privileges ccrtai industries have been founded. It would be a serious wrong to cut away the foundation on which the industries have been established. Perhaps the most which can T>c done, if anything can he done at all, is to pass legislation limiting me' granting of lights in the future. Hut mining interests are such that they must he fully considered. and the possibilities for mining developments in the future must not be dismissed lightly.