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Hokitika Guardian, 14 October 1930, Page 4

With the .drop in export values oj Dominion priAUicts ana the general fai. in ti»e prices oi all commouibufs, there nas Lven something or a cencerted demand lor a Uit-ip m wages. With the annual meeting of the associated Chambers of Commeice next weex transpiring, probaoiy more will ha heard oi tJie matter Hut the manufacturers have approached the Government already and sought relief unuer the arbitration system. This step promptly aroused various sections of Labour, ana much as the arbitration law has been abused in the past, and often defied by Labour, expressed strong views against any alteration. There was the expressed idea that the fixing of wages should precede any degree of prosperity, but rather the axion should be reversed ) wages should be. governed by prosperity. If high wages produce bad times, then to overcome bad times wages should be reviewed. The basic wages is how fixed by a certain process, but is based on prosperous times. With the fall in prices there can be no immediate prosperity in the sense of times past. There is a serious decline in the inflow of wealth, and that is going to affect labour and employment more seriously than any fixation of wages. That is, there will not be the available wealth for ..the maintenance of general employment along former lines. The dairying farmer of to-day cannot ba making any profit of importance on his produce at present prices, and he must needs economise. He cannoit be an employer, and he must also curtail his expenditure in other directions, which affect employment in other avenues, and by this enforced unemployment, had times assert themselves. The employer is the first to feel the pinch, and as he cannot pay high wages, he has to do without the labour for the time being, and so much industry is idled. There is of course the view that high wages causes greater spending power, and that is so when high wages can be paid, but when they cannot be paid, the reverse happens and nothing is spent. All will agree that high wages will stimulate prosperity, hut it is a question of economics in the end—can the. employer afford to pay the high wages in return for what his produce of product brines on the market. Trade is now so dislocated that there cnn ho no earlv return to prosperity to jusify a high level of wages. In regard to New Zealand produce at Home, it is as low now as ever it was, lvut it is not selling in any quantity even at the low rate. There is not any general clearance; the market i s stagnant. Supplies in stocks continue to

mount up, and production in New Zealand increases. But with the level of prices down there is no degree of surplus cash to create that wane of prosperity, which heavy production might lie expected to provide. A new sat of circumstances is arising, and the position has to be met by a readjustment of methods. This requires to be realised and acted upon if the best is to got out of the country and its producing power.