The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, JULY 13, 1931. ECONOMIES IN POLITICS.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 July 1931, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is in corporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, JULY 13, 1931. ECONOMIES IN POLITICS.

The broad question in social organization discussed by ai New York financial, journal, is. .that between giving authority to a few or freedom to the many. ' Throughout the past the struggles of the common man have been for individual freedom, to get himself j detached from overlords, at liberty to j control his own labor and the proceeds thereof, 'and to obtain political equality. These demands have won their way in the development of. the existing economic and political systems. Freedom of action for the individual is the governing principle in both. The right of private property follows upon the right to labor for the- laborer’s own benefit. The economic system which has grown up on this basis is a free, voluntary system with everybody at liberty to offer any kind of service to the public and make the best bargain he can upon its value in exchange for the products of others. In fact, there is no system or organisation except in the sense that individuals and groups find it mutually advantageous to co-operate. There is no organisation with an authority which gives general control over industry and trade, and our public policy always has been to permit none. In discussing the responsibilities of the business organisation it is important to bear in mind the simplicity of the organisation' and, the absence of centralised control. And yet this voluntary organisation, without direction from above,' blit- bv the free initiative of its millions of members, has developed a : Vast and complex system of production andtrade. Millions of minds have been studying' the methods of production, the develornent of new goods and services, and the gains to be made by exchanging products- and services, with the result that constant progress has been made in the development of all the industries, including means of communication and transportation. Thus not only has the aggregate production of useful goods enormously increased, but trade has brought together in the markets of the world the products of all regions, climates and peoples, and i >

effected'a great rise in the standard of living. Moreover, this progress has been more rapid in recent years than ever before, so rapid indeed that coinplaint is made of its disturbing effects. People find it inconvenient to adapt themselves to changes, and have a grievance against an' order which favours changes, even though these results [ serve the general welfare. The Standard of living evidently is determined hv the increasing productivity of the industries per worker, which increases the supply ofv all comforts per head .of the population, and this is accomplished, not by more intense labor or longer hours of labor, but by more effective organisation and the employment of capital in various forms of equipment which make industry more productive. The. efficiency of the indus tries and of the agencies which facilitate trade never have been so high ns in recent years or the l general stand. ' ard. of living so high. Against these achievements we have the criticism, which may he summed up in allegations that the gains of increasing productivity are not equitably disturbed, and that the organisation is unstable, not under proper control and direction, ns "evidenced by periods of industrial depression, 1 Unemployment and resulting hardships. It is evident that In a free society some degree of confusion and irregularity is bound to occur. Moreover, the more complex latter day organisation of society in industry, trade and finance, with vastly increased production, larger trade areas, the use of credit as a means of facilitating the distribution and employment of captal, has introduced into business some elements of u'ncertainty which were not present in a primitive society. The latter had its own uncertainties. There are advantages and disadvantages in both independence and interdependence, hut it is an obvious fact that in our time there has been a greater exchange of services and therefore greater- interdependence than formerly. Furthermore, this is not going to change. We are not going hack to primitive methods, simply because they would not support the present population in the comfort to which it is accustomed. It is fundamental to the success of amorganisation that all parts of it shall be in balance and' work together for the common purpose. This is true of a ball team or a business organisation and of modern industrial society. Wherever the business organisation is said to have broken down it has been for lack of proper relations between its parts; due mainly to lack of understanding. That weakness can be remedied only by greater 00-opfiration, but it is a familiar fact that people do not co-operate verv readily. They do not agree very readily, ns is evident by the internal conflicts which* embarrass every kind of an organisation. No central authority could be established wise enough to regulate all relations or keep industry always in balance, and any plan to that end would have to provide for the suppression of individual initiative and liberty, and something not to he thought of, either as desirable or possibly successful. The ultimate conclusion is that people cannot be compelled to co-operate; they have to learn that it is to their advantage to do so. They learn how to get along together by being allowed to do so in their own wfiy. Freedom is a condition of both intellectual and economic- progress. The basic truth is that no individual industry or industrial group can prosner 1 bv itself or solely by means of its own efforts. Other industries must prosper in order that each may sell its products. The andgroups are virtually ! supporting. It is impossible to sell goods to people who have no products or services of their own for sale, or to sell to them in excess of the purchasing power which they derive from their own sales. All together constitute a system of supplying each other’s wants.